While mindlessly scrolling through the digital equivalent of 500 tonnes worth of cat memes on Instagram, something stood out: a green chilli sauce. Usually, I'd slow clap the vibrant hue of green, give it a nod of approval and move on. But when I saw the word tahini in the ingredients let's just say my interest was piqued.

I absolutely love tahini and anything that it's in. I'm talking fan girl territory, a sweet ode to my Cypriot heritage with hummus being the obvious contender for most loved tahini recipe - until now. This sauce is capital letters LEGIT and I have been putting it on everything from steak to chicken, to mixing it into salad dressings and using it to add an extra dimension to the usual egg and avo combo. If you follow me on Instagram and have ever felt compelled enough to watch my stories, you may have noticed my new found obsession for this sauce because I have been preaching hard.

The recipe comes from my all time favourite bon appétit and is another example of why they are IMO the best food magazine out there - they deliver the goods time and time again (and can we take a moment to applaud them for likening this sauce to the summer sandals you wear with everything? So true.). But of course it wouldn't be like me to ever really follow a recipe to the T, so my take on this punchy little number uses some garlic scapes I picked up from the market along with a single clove of garlic, a little less lemon and a touch more heat from an additional serrano pepper. I promise if you try this you will be just as obsessed as me.

Method

In a blender, grate in the zest of a lemon and add the juice of 1.5 lemons, discarding any pips.

Add the garlic, garlic scapes, serrano peppers, parsley, olive oil and roughly 75ml water and blend until you have a smooth sauce.

Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir in the tahini paste - season with salt to taste.

That's it! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

I think this tastes better the next day, when the tahini has thickened the sauce and the flavours have developed and settled. Keeps well for a week. Maybe longer but I wouldn't know because I eat it too quickly.

Everyone has that one recipe that they go back to time and time again, and for me it's pesto. Perhaps it's the ease in throwing it together, or the fact that its traditional use is with my favourite carb, but there is something about its herby, garlicky notes that keep it firmly on my go-to recipe list.

What I love about pesto is its versatility. Every green herb or leaf that I throw at it seems to work in its own right, with unfamiliar flavour profiles lending themselves to different parts of the palate, adding an element of discovery each time I try a new combination. This particular pesto is made using chives as well as basil, resulting in luxuriously garlicky undertones while keeping it classic. Use it on pasta like I've done here, or dot it onto ricotta on toast - it is all good.

CHIVE + BASIL PESTO

Makes 200g

Ingredients

20g fresh chives

10g fresh basil leaves, stalks discarded

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons olive oil

30g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated

Method

In a food processor, add the herbs, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper and blend.

Scrape the pesto mixture into a bowl and by hand stir in the grated parmesan. Add an extra glug of olive oil for good measure.

Cook your pasta of choice until al dente (allow 100g per person), reserving a little of the cooking water before draining. Add 1-2 heaped tablespoons of pesto per person, along with a splash of the reserved water.